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By
Sage Cho
- February 20, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Victims
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Counsel delivered opening arguments on the second day of 22-year-old murder defendant Daquan Woodard on Feb. 20, with defense attorney Maureen O’Leary delivering an argument that lasted approximately two minutes.
O’Leary’s argument mainly consisted of an explanation to jurors that the prosecution carries the burden of proving her client’s guilt. She did not address the details of the incident.
Woodward previously attempted to dismiss O’Leary the first day of the trial, saying he feels “like she’s not going to fight” for him and that his “life shouldn’t be in her hands.”
Jury selection continued into the late morning after Woodard requested a postponement Feb. 19. Woodard cursed before the court when Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer referred his case to Judge Melissa K. Copeland’s courtroom to review his postponement request.
Woodard is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, and illegal possession of a regulated firearm in connection to a Feb. 7, 2024 double homicide that occurred in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven located at 4401 Belair Road and resulted in the deaths of 40-year-old Odell Curtis and 32-year-old Ricardo Brooks-Watters.
The prosecution told the jury that video footage from a mobile surveillance trailer equipped with three cameras and a speaker allegedly captured Woodard among a group of people on the sidewalk near the parking lot, watching Curtis. Following an apparent dispute between Woodard and Curtis, Woodward allegedly pulls out a gun and fatally shoots Curtis multiple times. He then rounds the car and allegedly does the same to Brooks-Watters.
“Daquan Woodard murdered Odell Curtis and Ricardo Brooks-Watters,” the prosecution said.
Testimonies continue.